My brother likes my 348 coupe, but he says he wouln't want one for himself because the shifting is too much of a pain in the a-s-s. We all know that the older Ferraris take some effort and precision to shift. You can't just lollipop these cars into gear. Is there anything that could be done to make the shifting easier--like 355/360 ease? Or even Porsche-like ease? I don't have any experience with fiddling with gearboxes. I want to put him in an older Ferrari!
Unfortunalty making the 348 shift better is a bit of a trick. The 348 uses a push-pull cable system for the shifting. If not adjusted correctly it will be a stubborn unit to shift. The 355 went back to a shift rod which is much nicer. But for the 360 ferrari went back to useing cables and they shift quite nice. The only thing to do is trial an error to find the sweet spot were everything is working as it should, and feels right. This may take a couple of goes but it's not that difficult. Just remeber a little goes along way with these car so don't go turning stuff like crazy, you'll just end up worse. You could also try a different gear oil like a good sythectic like Amsoil or redline oils. They do seem to make a big inprovment in these car as far as shift feel goes.
There are modified shift gates available, e.g. from Paul Hill, which claim to make shifting from 1 to 2 and from 3 to 4 easier. I have not tried them yet but would be tempted to buy one.
Tom. does the same apply for the 246GT? Push pull? My Dino is quite stiff to shift. How's that project Dino coming along, BTW?
The Dino is also a shift shaft..no cables. You might want to try an adjustment of the shifter rod. Not very difficult to do at all..but again of your not used to doing it, it may take a couple of tries to get it just right.
Try in order: shift linkage draggin chaffe. I have seen the cable even crushed by jacks! gear oil change shift linkage correction most popular oils mobil1 redline mix mtl and the other I forget royal purple amsoil synthetic
Also be sure your clutch spigot (input shaft) bearing is free, be sure the centre plate(s) is(are) free to slide nicely on it's(their) input shaft splines and that the clutch is not dragging for adjustment or clutch bleeding problems, depending on model. Make sure all engine mounts are in good condition (oil contamination most common problem) and no excessive slack in any linkage bushes etc.
I had one of these gates fitted to my 328,and I can confirm it makes shifting much easier,in fact i did not miss a gear once after it was fitted. Dave Mc
Being that the 355 has the same base for the body as a 348, I wonder if the shift shaft for the 355 could be fitted to a 348?
Go to the Hill Engineering site and read my testimonial. You can click up top as they're one of our sponsors.